by Susie Windle | Apr 12, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play
Pretend play can be powerful because reality can be suspended. By suspending reality, children can level the playing field and even feel that they have the advantage. After all, though children can be very wise and insightful at times, there are some real frustrations...
by Susie Windle | Mar 8, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Downtime is important for the healthy growth and development of your child. Your child’s brain needs breaks in order to process the incoming flood of new information. Being idle allows the brain to take what it already knows and then think, reflect, and change. Idle...
by Susie Windle | Aug 31, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play
Telling stories is one playful way to help children address important themes in their lives, particularly those that children might prefer not to talk about. Discharging powerful feelings connected to memories and experiences is important, though, so residual feelings...
by Susie Windle | Aug 24, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play
When kids play, they are not just having fun. Play allows kids to try out new ways of being, behaving, thinking, and feeling. When kids play, they are allowed to break out of established patterns and experiment with being a new self with new ways of interacting with...
by Susie Windle | Mar 30, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
How can we help our children develop a sense of responsibility? Let’s consider some of the possibilities. First, children need to experience their own feelings. We want to protect our children, yet we cannot shield them from all of life’s experiences and the emotions...
by Susie Windle | Jul 8, 2015 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
Disagreements are merely differences of opinion. Since disagreements are unavoidable, the real key to disagreeing is doing it in a way that respects the parties involved. Kids need to learn how to respectfully disagree, and parents have an opportunity to teach this...
by Susie Windle | May 6, 2015 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Adults can easily forget that kids learn a lot through physical play. Physical play might involve roughhousing, wrestling, climbing, swinging, and running around. All children need this kind of play, and participating in it is one of the ways kids can learn to solve...
by Susie Windle | Apr 29, 2015 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
A nurturing relationship involves open, honest communication, and that kind of communication involves listening as well as talking. We need to listen to our children. When we listen, really listen, we show our children that we respect them and that we care about their...
by Susie Windle | Jul 30, 2014 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
Last week Parenting Playbook looked at the distinction between sibling rivalry and bullying at home. This week, let’s look at some ideas to consider when siblings disagree. When siblings are in the throes of a disagreement, it can be easy for parents to feel like...
by Susie Windle | Feb 26, 2014 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
We all have to wait from time to time—in supermarket lines and traffic, at restaurants and doctors’ offices—and sometimes we must wait with our children. Successfully managing waiting time with a young child starts with adjusting everyone’s expectations—yours and your...
